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The Steelers in my opinion need to go back to a heavy rebuilding phase. Cut the big dollar veterans and wait for a couple of nice star players once we have some cap space.

Ben
Brown
Sanders
Pouncey
Decastro
Gilbert
Adams
Beachum

These guys give us some ease of mind on offense. I realize Heath Miller contributes but right now I'm talking about our future and players that will contribute and continue to tribute for our future. Our runningbacks,,,,, This might be an area that once the cap is reduced will have a star player plugged in.

I'm hoping defense gets a shot in the arm too because this side of the ball in my opinion is going to fall very hard and soon.
I'm banking on:

McClendon
Heyward
But all other positions and players are either too expensive to retain such as Lewis, not cutting it such as Hood, Woodley, haven't proved themself such as many of them or too old to rely upon for the future such as Kiesel, Troy, Clark, Taylor, Allen, Hampton.

This team does need to do a total revamp and most of it needs completed on the defensive side of the ball.

Our satus as a number one defense does not impress me. Stats don't win games, players stepping up at the right time wins games. Obviously you can have the great stats and the players that gets you the sacks, turneovers and all that and we did back in the day but, those days are gone and those players are gone.

I have no problem taking a couple of hits with few wins in a season for a couple of seasons if, it means we are rebuilding, grooming and getting higher draft picks.

The next step is preparing to move on from Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark & Ike Taylor. Chadman purposefully didn't add Keenan Lewis to the list- in Chadman's opinion, he's as gone as Wallace & Mendenhall, the numbers just don't add up.

So Cortez will likely move into a starting spot, and drafting at #17 gives the Steelers, potentially, a shot at one of the top 3 CB's in this draft. The time has well & truly come to draft a Safety or 2 as well.

On Offense, the Steelers have put 4 pieces out of 5 together for the OL in Adams, Pouncey, DeCastro & Gilbert. Maybe Beachum is the fifth piece, maybe not. Would expect to see another OG added at some point in this draft.

The WR's are a quandry. With Wallace moving on we have Brown & Sanders. Not sure either is a genuine #1 WR, but both offer some impact. Would also expect an addition through the draft at WR.

RB is a problem. There is no 'danger' player in the group we have. A genuine threat is required. Look for a speedy type RB to join the team this offseason, most likely as an early draft pick.

Ben..... the team is built around Ben, and will base all it's success & failure on him. Some want to prepare for the future at QB, but really, all that will achieve is a long-term back-up. Ben is simply too expensive to move on from, and when the time comes for him to say goodbye from Pittsburgh- it'll be time to do a complete rebuild. The Steelers will hope to get another 6 years out of Ben, they might get it. Despite what everyone says, Ben is one tough guy & plays injured. He's been injured his whole career. It'll take something pretty dramatic to end his career, and if that happens, well- that's life. The Steelers will have to deal with the situation when it comes to hand. So yeah, add a young QB if you like, but don't invest too heavily, because that guy will only end up starting elsewhere.

The Steelers are old in some areas. But they have done a reasonable job of preparing for this time. It is yet to be determined if the young guys are good enough to replace the old guys- but you can say that for any new draft pick coming in too.

So Chadman expects to see 2-3 vets moved on, like last season, and nearly all our 'good' FA's to move on too. Then the young guys from the last couple of years will move up, and the next batch of rookies are in place to replace next year's Vet culling...

If the young defensive players as you mentioned step up we have good things to look forward to. I keep thinking Ta'amu must really have something the Steelers favor because you know what the Rooneys are like or especially with the degree of his off field episode.

The offense doesn't worry me a bit. I think our o-line is going to gel, we have Ben, Sanders, Antonio Brown, the veteran receiver that I can't think of his name at the moment. I'm pretty tired right now and my heads cloudy so some of the names are avoiding me at the moment but, the veteran receiver on the team along with a young receiver that has been on the squad and looks pretty good. Say goodbye to Mendenhall because we have two decent guys in Dwyer and Redman. We still need to do better in this area with possibly with some free agency shopping. I wouldn't want to take a runningback first round because our secondary needs that selection. Number two and three also if you ask me.

If guys step up, lose weight, stay healthy and our draft or free agency goes well, we could be smelling playoffs by 2014. One thing is for sure, going 6-10 won't bother me a bit. isn't that where we found Ben at during the time of having a bad team record ?

I have a feeling Heath Miller will be gone after 2014 season. Soon if not now, the Steelers will be looking for a top notched TE.

If the young defensive players as you mentioned step up we have good things to look forward to. I keep thinking Ta'amu must really have something the Steelers favor because you know what the Rooneys are like or especially with the degree of his off field episode.

The offense doesn't worry me a bit. I think our o-line is going to gel, we have Ben, Sanders, Antonio Brown, the veteran receiver that I can't think of his name at the moment. I'm pretty tired right now and my heads cloudy so some of the names are avoiding me at the moment but, the veteran receiver on the team along with a young receiver that has been on the squad and looks pretty good. Say goodbye to Mendenhall because we have two decent guys in Dwyer and Redman. We still need to do better in this area with possibly with some free agency shopping. I wouldn't want to take a runningback first round because our secondary needs that selection. Number two and three also if you ask me.

If guys step up, lose weight, stay healthy and our draft or free agency goes well, we could be smelling playoffs by 2014. One thing is for sure, going 6-10 won't bother me a bit. isn't that where we found Ben at during the time of having a bad team record ?

I have a feeling Heath Miller will be gone after 2014 season. Soon if not now, the Steelers will be looking for a top notched TE.

Losing players don't always equate to having a bad season. In some cases it could impact the team in a negative way if they are key players, however having players step up behind them could cushion the impact.
Take last season where we had to cut ties with Aaron Smith, Hoke, Hines Ward, Kemoatu,James Farrior, william gay, Wesly Saunders to name a few. The result dealt us a 8-8 record but it wasn't because we lost those players, it was on account of players who performed well in the past underachieved in 2012.

Out of those 8 games we lost, we easily could of won at least three more games or more considering we lost 5 games by 3 points. Wallace and Brown especially underperformed as well as our backs. Our defense early on was having issues too but overcame them, and we can't forget the many injuries to key players either.

That was the start of our transition and now we move on to the second phase. A healthy unit could make a difference but there is no room for error as we expect to lose quite a few this coming season.
As stated here by many of you we need the second and third year guys to step up in combination of a good draft and it may not turn out as bad as some think.

We think of our second and third year players stepping up but even some vets need to do the same like Lamar Woodley in paticular. I'm thinking we still will have a competitive team but as I stated no room for error and most important we can't have another season with so many injuries this time around, who in the heck is going to replace them.

The silver lining in this was our draft picks last season got playing time like Adams, DeCastro, Paulson, Beachum plus some second and third year players like Worlids getting snaps could help us transition this coming year. It certainly won't be easy and we could very well repeat last seasons record or worse, thats the challenge, to improve from last season and be competitive.

We supported the Steelers when they were winning all those playoff games and Super Bowls, now its time to support them when they need it the most.

Losing players don't always equate to having a bad season. In some cases it could impact the team in a negative way if they are key players, however having players step up behind them could cushion the impact.
Take last season where we had to cut ties with Aaron Smith, Hoke, Hines Ward, Kemoatu,James Farrior, william gay, Wesly Saunders to name a few. The result dealt us a 8-8 record but it wasn't because we lost those players, it was on account of players who performed well in the past underachieved in 2012.

Out of those 8 games we lost, we easily could of won at least three more games or more considering we lost 5 games by 3 points. Wallace and Brown especially underperformed as well as our backs. Our defense early on was having issues too but overcame them, and we can't forget the many injuries to key players either.

That was the start of our transition and now we move on to the second phase. A healthy unit could make a difference but there is no room for error as we expect to lose quite a few this coming season.
As stated here by many of you we need the second and third year guys to step up in combination of a good draft and it may not turn out as bad as some think.

We think of our second and third year players stepping up but even some vets need to do the same like Lamar Woodley in paticular. I'm thinking we still will have a competitive team but as I stated no room for error and most important we can't have another season with so many injuries this time around, who in the heck is going to replace them.

The silver lining in this was our draft picks last season got playing time like Adams, DeCastro, Paulson, Beachum plus some second and third year players like Worlids getting snaps could help us transition this coming year. It certainly won't be easy and we could very well repeat last seasons record or worse, thats the challenge, to improve from last season and be competitive.

We supported the Steelers when they were winning all those playoff games and Super Bowls, now its time to support them when they need it the most.

On the contrary, some have pointed to AB's brain farts and fumbilitis as causing at least 3 losses. Yes, the vets didnt produce as expected, but young player inexperience also was a factor that can't be discounted.

To improve on 8-8 the Steelers need to run the ball better, produce more big plays in the passing offense, rush the QB better & create more turnovers.

Losing players does not mean these things are unachievable.

But it certainly doesn't make it easier.

Not all the answers to the Steelers problems will come from the 2013 draft. Some of the answers... maybe all the answers... need to come from the guys remaining on the roster.

if you cut deep, some answers could come from draft, some as affordable free agents, and some absolutely has to come from the younger guys we have working their nuts off this offseason (Woodley, Adams, Gilbert, Beachum, DeCastro, Cortez Allen, Worilds, Ta'amu, McLendon, Hood, Fangupo, Dwyer, Brown, Sanders, Heyward).